SYRIZA Still Riding High in Polls

Published at12:19, Mar 08 2015

ATHENS – He’s broken almost every campaign promise he made to reverse austerity, but Greeks still love the Radical Left SYRIZA party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

A March 7 poll showed 64 percent of people back the administration, a slip from the 76 percent in another poll earlier but still enough to have two-in-three voters support Tsipras in his confrontation with international lenders although he’s had to bow to them.

The Marc poll, which was commissioned by Efimerida ton Syndakton newspaper, showed only 31.4 percent of people don’t like the job he’s doing even though the country is close to running out of money and desperately seeking a new deal Tsipras calls a “safety net” and not a “bailout” that he vowed to reject.

Asked whether they were pleased with the progress of negotiations with Greece’s European partners, 59.6 percent said “yes” or “probably yes,” while 37.6 percent said “no” or “probably no,” even though the government has had to backtrack on virtually every front and gained almost no concessions.

And some 75.4 percent said they expected that a four-month bailout extension deal granted to Greece in the February 20 Eurogroup will be followed by a third rescue package Tsipras said he’d never accept but now said Greece needs. Only 14 percent felt he’d hold the line on his broken promises.

The election of former New Democracy Conservative minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos as President was welcomed by 54.7 percent of Greeks, while 36.3 percent said they were not happy with the decision. He has been criticized for directing the hiring of thousands of needless workers as part of policies Tsipras once opposed.